After months of mudslinging, weeks of court wrangling and days of ballot counting that again landed Florida in an unwelcome national spotlight, a state panel matter-of-factly finalized the 2018 election results in a five-minute meeting.

The certification came on time, but problems with other election-related deadlines in two large, heavily Democratic counties — Broward and Palm Beach — are prompting county election supervisors and legislative leaders to ponder possible solutions to the state's ballot-box woes.

Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher blamed mechanical failures for missing deadlines for recounts ordered in statewide races. Broward County Supervisor Brenda Snipes, meanwhile, experienced myriad problems, including failing — by two minutes — to meet the deadline for a machine recount in Republican Gov. Rick Scott's U.S. Senate win against incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson.

Scott and other Republicans castigated Snipes and Bucher for their handling of the recount, accusing the election chiefs of incompetence and outright fraud. Snipes submitted her resignation to Scott.

But other election supervisors say this year's three statewide recounts — the first since Florida law was changed after the 2000 presidential recount — show the system generally worked well.

“Clearly, being the first test of the system for a statewide recount, there are some things that need to be tweaked,” Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections Paul Lux, president of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections, told The News Service of Florida in a telephone interview. “There's room for improvement, especially as it relates to the deadlines.”

Floridians cast more than 8.2 million ballots by mail, at early voting sites or on Election Day, according to the state Division of Elections website. Recounts also were required because of slim margins in the races for governor and agriculture commissioner.

The state Elections Canvassing Commission quickly certified the results of the elections two days after results of manual recounts were submitted in the Senate and agriculture commissioner races. The governor's race required a machine recount but did not go to a hand recount.

In 2000, Florida law did not require statewide recounts, meaning only some counties conducted recounts. Because they had different types of voting machines, counties used different recount methods. The law was changed in 2001, but the crafters never envisioned three statewide recounts at once, Lux said.

Recount deadlines are built around a mandate that legislators be seated two weeks after the general election and an early December deadline for the federal Electoral College to vote on presidential election results.

State lawmakers might consider pushing back the deadlines to give larger counties more time to tabulate absentee ballots and conduct recounts, Lux and several other elections supervisors suggested.

“The discussion has to be, did we see actual problems, or did we see problems that were perceived as problems based on a particular candidate or a particular campaign seeing something that was not going their way or that was perceived as not going their way,” Lux said. “There's a huge difference.”

The state also may want to revisit deadlines for mailed ballots, Lux said. Under current law, mail-in ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day. But overseas ballots postmarked by Election Day can be counted up to 10 days later. The mail-in ballot deadline was the subject of one of several lawsuits filed by Democrats after the Nov. 6 election. Other states allow up to 10 days after the election for mailed ballots to be counted.

Florida could consider allowing mailed ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received by elections offices within two days after the election, Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles said. That's the same time allowed for voters who cast provisional ballots to provide documentation to elections offices.

“Our U.S. Postal Service is not what it used to be,” Cowles said. “I can't tell you the number of ballots that people put in the mail on Tuesday, thinking they're still going to count.”

And lawmakers may want to authorize the use of vote centers, Lux proposed. Mega-precincts could help eliminate the need for provisional ballots, which are given to voters who arrive in different precincts or whose identities or other information cannot be confirmed on Election Day. Critics say minority voters, younger and older voters are more likely to have their provisional ballots tossed.

“Imagine a world where everyone is using some version of a vote center instead of precinct-based voting on Election Day, and you could go to any one of them. You would never find yourself in the wrong precinct. Bam. You've just eliminated all of the provisional ballots that are voted by people for being in the wrong precinct,” Lux said.

Elections chiefs also cautioned against basing changes on hiccups this year.

“I'm concerned that the Legislature is going to jump on this and overreact. I think that, for the most part, the process worked the way it was supposed to. We're not supposed to have instant results. When you have a close race, we need to methodically review every ballot,” said Polk County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards, a former state representative.

Many of the  supervisors lamented the state's 67 election chiefs are being viewed with the same contempt as the isolated areas with high-profile problems.

“Clearly there were issues in the counties that were reported, but I think we need to remember in totality we got it right,” said Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley.

Edwards also said she wished politicians and the public would tone down the rhetoric after the polls close.

“I think the folks that were claiming fraud knew darn well, and had plenty of lawyers to explain to them the process, that an election takes a couple of days,” Edwards said. “I think they knew it. And I think it was a political strategy to try to condemn the process for their own political gains.”

Dara Kam reports for the News Service of Florida.